Shewfelt helping address abuse
Canadian gymnastics is having a reckoning.
As painful as it is for Canada’s lone Olympic gold medallist in gymnastics to see coaches charged with sexual offences, Kyle Shewfelt wants his sport to emerge healthier from under its current cloud.
“We’re in that muddy period right now looking at our past and figuring it out,” Shewfelt told The Canadian Press.
“Now we’re coming up with the tools to be able to identify what a positive sport experience should look like.”
Shewfelt’s gold medal in 2004 in the floor routine made him the first Canadian to win a medal of any colour in the sport. The 36-year-old now owns and operates a recreational gymnastics club in his hometown of Calgary. Two Canadian gymnastics coaches were charged with sexual offences in the last 14 months on the heels of a U.S. national team doctor facing multiple accusations that have since been proven in court. When Graham James was charged and convicted of molesting junior hockey players he coached in Swift Current, Sask., in the 1990s, the Canadian Hockey League and Hockey Canada introduced a flurry of programs and support services to address abuse, bullying and harassment.
Gymnastics Canada has similarly been forced into action.
Ajudge is expected to deliver a decision Wednesday in Sarnia, Ont., on Dave Brubaker, the former director of the Canadian women’s gymnastics team who pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation.
Gymnastics coach Michel Arsenault faces charges of assault and sexual assault in Quebec, where provincial police said the victims of the alleged crimes in Montreal were between the ages of 10 and 20.
American doctor Larry Nassar was accused of molesting dozens of athletes, including members of the U.S. women’s team, dating back to 1992.
He pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual misconduct and was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.
The scandals put gymnastics front and centre in a loud and widening conversation around abuse and harassment in sport.
Gymnastics Canada hired Ellen MacPherson as director of safe sport in May 2018.
In addition to developing a safe-sport policy emphasizing athlete welfare, MacPherson says she’s revised and strengthened the organization’s code of ethics and conduct and updated the harassment, abuse and discrimination policies.
“We’ve included behaviours that do make a safe sport environment,” MacPherson said. “We didn’t want to point out only what is not allowed.”
Shewfelt says his gym’s staff must complete a Respect In Sport program and undergo mandatory police and reference checks.
“We have the conversation amongst our staff,” Shewfelt said. “What are appropriate things, how do we develop strong relationships with kids and make them feel we are trusted adults, but not crossing lines? Trust is something, you don’t just get it. It’s something that’s earned. It’s earned through creating environments that foster it.”